Report suspicious activity:

1-866-DHS-2-ICE or Operation.Predator@dhs.gov Report suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at - http://www.missingkids.org 1-800-843-5678 or www.cybertipline.com For tips to prevent and deter individuals from committing on-line child abuse: Virtual Global Task Force

Cyber Branch

Office of Investigations: Investigative Services Division

The ICE Cyber Crimes Center

C3 Cyber Crime Center Pamphlet

Every crime that can be committed in the "real" world can be committed or facilitated using computers and the Internet. From child pornography to arms and drug trafficking, the criminal underworld has embraced this medium of commerce and communication.

The Cyber Crimes Center is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the investigation of international criminal activities conducted on or facilitated by the Internet. Created in 1997, the Center brings the full range of ICE computer and forensic assets together in a single location to combat such Internet-related crimes as:

• Possession, manufacture and distribution of child pornography.
• International money laundering and illegal cyber-banking.
• Illegal arms trafficking and illegal export of strategic/controlled commodities.
• Drug trafficking (including prohibited pharmaceuticals).
• Trafficking in stolen art and antiquities.
• Intellectual property rights violations (including music and software).

The Cyber Crimes Center essentially serves as “mission control” for ICE’s Internet related investigations. The center develops leads generated by domestic and international sources; validates if those leads constitute violations of law, then turns over these leads to ICE field offices for further investigation.

The Center has also provided hundreds of leads to foreign law enforcement agencies. Another important component of the center is training. The Center provides cyber crime training to Federal, state, local and international law enforcement agencies.

The Cyber Crimes Center is divided into three primary sections: child exploitation, computer forensics, and cyber crimes.

Child Exploitation

Child Exploitation focuses on child pornography and child sex tourism violations occurring over the Internet through the use of the World Wide Web, newsgroups, Internet Relay Chat Channels, and other technologies. Over the years, the Cyber Crimes Center has achieved great success in identifying and apprehending Internet child pornographers. Recent investigative successes include:

• Operation Hamlet -- a joint investigation by ICE and the Danish National Police into a ring of pedophiles that molested their own children and posted images of this molestation on the Internet. Launched in 2001, this case has to date resulted in the arrest of 34 individuals and the rescue of more than 100 children subjected to this torturous environment. The majority of these children were U.S. citizens.
  
  
• Operation Mango -- an extensive investigation that closed down an American-owned beachside resort in Acapulco, Mexico that catered to child sex predators. The resort was a haven for pedophiles that traveled to the facility for the sole purpose of engaging in sex with minors. As a result of this investigation and others, the government of Mexico recently created a Federal task force to address crimes against children in its country.

Cyber Crimes

Cyber Crimes focuses on an array of Internet-related crimes that are not connected to child pornography. This section investigates the use of the Internet to further criminal activities such as intellectual property rights violations, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, fraud, stolen cultural property (including missing Iraqi artifacts), and arms trafficking/illegal exports.

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